Asia Stocks recap: Workers rest, but not data

April 30, 2014, 9:01 PM ET

Shutterstock/Claudio Zaccherini

Welcome to the Asia Stocks live blog, a running account of what the region’s share markets are doing, along with other news. Today, Japanese and Australian markets are open, though most of the other majors are closed to honor May 1 International Workers Day. Still, the data counters in China toil anyway, releasing relatively strong monthly manufacturing data.

Japanese stocks are on the march this morning —at this point, we have the Nikkei Average up 0.8%, and the Topix 1.1% higher.

While helped by the overnight advance on Wall Street, Tokyo’s gains ignore a modest appreciation of the yen (dollar at ¥102.27 vs. ¥102.47 at yesterday’s close), focusing instead on some upbeat earnings news.

Among the big gainers, Fujitsu is 6.8% higher after returning to profit in the fiscal year that ended last month. Likewise, Nomura is 5,1% higher and Daiwa Securities is up 3.1% as the two brokers set multi-year records for their annual profit (Nomura had the best in 8 years, while Daiwa was the best in 24 years, though the latter saw earnings drop in the January-March quarter due to a weak stock market.)

Other financials also traded broadly higher, with Mitsubishi UFJ up 2%, Mizuho Financial Group up 1.5%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group up 2.1%, and among the smaller names, Bank of Yokohama up 1.4%, and Shinsei up 2%.

Toyota Motor is enjoying a 1.3% rise after a Nikkei news article tipped the company to post a 70% rise in annual operating profit. Still, it’s not the top gainer for the major autos — that honor belongs to Honda, up 1.5%, with the gains coming as the car maker says it will delay construction of a new Thai assembly plant.

Meanwhile, the top winners this morning appear to be the utilities, enjoying a strong wave of buying after some better-than-expected financial results. Hokkaido Electric Power Co. is rocking a more-than-12% rally after cutting its fiscal-year loss in half, while Kansai Electric Power Co. is up 7.5% — its loss widened, but it tipped a swing to profit for the current year.

In the same vein, Tokyo Electric Power Co. is up 2.1% (it posted a profit for the first time in four years), while Shikoku Electric Power Co.is 4.2% higher, thanks to a sharply smaller loss.

And rounding out the earnings-inspired stock-climb are the shippers: Mitsui O.S.K. is 4% higher, and rival Nippon Yusen KK is up 2.9%, with the market giving a thumbs-up to their results and outlook as economic recovery takes hold.

Granted, it’s not a huge jump — not as big as the gain witnessed in HSBC’s preliminary results for its own manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which rose to 48.3 from 48 though remaining below the 50 level separating growth from contraction. (HSBC’s final version of the PMI is due out next Monday.)

But details of the official PMI were relatively bullish, with the subindex for new orders rising to 51.2 from 50.6, for instance.

Chinese stock markets are closed for May Day, but we did see a reaction from the Australian dollar, often sensitive to economic news out of Australia’s top trading partner. The Aussie rose to 92.99 U.S. cents (but failed to cross the 93 level), after having bought 92.86 U.S. cents at the time the numbers came out.

Bears have the upper hand in Sydney this morning, with (another) sharp drop for iron-ore prices sending miners’ share prices deeper into the hole.

With the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.5%, we have BHP Billiton off 0.6%, Rio Tinto lower by 1.2%, and among the iron-focused names, Fortescue Metals down 3.2%, and Atlas Iron down 2.5%. Yet, Mount Gibson Iron is up 1.4%, possibly buoyed by a board shake-up, reducing the number of directors representing major shareholders to two from three.

Among the heavily weighted banks, ANZ seemed poised for gains after its earnings and dividend came in just ahead of estimates. But no such luck: ANZ shares are lower by 1%, while among its peers, NAB is down 1.2%, Westpac is down 1%, and CBA is flat.

And then there’s Woolworths, extending losses by another 2%. Dow Jones Newswires is attributing the further weakness to a ratings downgrade from Deutsche Bank to hold from buy, likely based on the sales figures that helped sink the stock yesterday.

It’s the start of a three-day holiday in China, but focus for much of country is on news of a bombing and another mass stabbing attack at a train station, killing 3 people and injuring nearly 80.

The incident took place in China’s restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, and follows an even more traumatic attack at a train station in the southern city of Kunming where 11 assailants with knives stabbed more than 160 people, leaving 33 dead and more than 130 injured.

Chinese authorities said the previous Kunming attack — sometimes referred to as “China’s 9/11″– was carried out by separatist terrorists from Xinjiang region.

China’s state Xinhua News Agency said the Tuesday incident at Urumuqi’s train station was a “seriously violent terrorist attack,” with the assailants stabbing holiday travelers and then detonating the explosion device. The state media didn’t elaborate on who might be responsible.

The incident drew anger on China’s social media, as well as comments of concern about the safety of traveling during this week’s Worker’s Day holiday period.

In Japan, the Nikkei Average ended up 1.3%, and the Topix index settled 1.7% higher. IT giant Fujitsu jumped 6.3%, after it swung back to profit for the fiscal year to March 2014. Nomura Holdings , Japan’s largest securities firm, also climbed 6.3%, as its earnings doubled to 213.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion) for the year ended March. Smaller rival Daiwa Securities Group gained 3.1%, after its net income more than doubled to 169.5 billion yen for last year, although its fourth-quarter profit declined for the first time in nine quarters.

Electronics giant Sony Corp. ended 1% higher. After the markets closed, the company said it expects a wider loss for the just-ended fiscal year as the cost of disposing its PC business weighed on the company as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen was flat against the dollar and traded at ¥102.21, compared with ¥102.25 in the prior session.

In Australia, banks and miners dragged the markets lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing down 0.7%.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group dropped 1.2%, despite posting a 15% rise in net income for the six months ending March 31. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank was down 1.7%, Westpac Banking Corp. was off 1.2%, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia moved lower by 0.3%.

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